The National interest
One of the most heralded bands of the past decade, The National still remains relatively obscure to the mainstream public especially in this part of the world.
This Brooklyn-based quintet was formed in 1999 in Cincinnati, Ohio, composed of identical twins Bryce and Aaron Dressner on guitars, brothers Bryan and Scott Devendorf on drums and bass, and Matt Berninger with his looming baritone on lead vocals.
They all moved to the Big Apple to seek higher education and lofty professional ambitions which eventually led to a musical career with a cult-like following.
For 2011, they’ve set their sights on an even wider audience by bringing their brand of rock to Asia with dates in Japan and Singapore this March.
The National’s bassist Scott Devendorf spoke exclusively with On the Radar to chat about the band’s recording process, special projects, and touring around the world.
THE PHILIPPINE STAR: One of the biggest things that attracted me to your music is your distinctly New York vibe and imagery. Do you consciously write songs to project this sentiment? How many years have you lived in New York?
SCOTT DEVENDORF: We all moved here about 1995 or 1996, so we’ve been living here for 14 years or so.
I don’t know if it’s conscious but the band’s existence started here and everything about the band from the beginning including the small shows are all based in New York. It’s inevitable that the music has a New York vibe to it, whatever that means. But we’ve always liked bands from New York and living here really inspires you to make music.
Your songs Mr. November and Fake Empire were actively used for the campaign of Barack Obama in 2008. How did you feel about it? Two years into his presidency, do you still like him?
We are still fans of him and we recently played a rally for him just before the midterm elections since we happened to be in the same city at the same time. His team contacted us and we did that in Madison, Wisconsin. In 2008, we did a rally in Ohio that was more of a “get out and vote” kind of thing.
He is in a tough spot right now as president but he’s ultimately a really smart and nice guy. It’s just very tricky to be in that position. As far as our songs being used, we were very surprised and it was kind of a big deal because we became very visible and attached to that campaign.
I read in the New York Times that you recorded 80 versions of Lemonworld, taking it through different directions. When did you know this would be the version that goes on the final record?
That song is particularly challenging and it’s not that way with every song. Some of them are more obvious as far as the structure, the sound or the feel that we were going for. That one was more elusive because it started out as something very simple like a demo. Then we tried all these things to make it more elaborate and propulsive which turned it into this big thing. But we finally decided to go for the vibe of the original version. So it became a full circle in a way. Obviously, things change along the roots but normally it varies. Our process involves building up on things and then tearing them away.
After the critical success of both ”Alligator” and ”Boxer,” did you feel any kind of pressure while recording ”High Violet”? Was the songwriting process different?
Yes, it’s different. It usually takes us a while to make records like a couple of years or so. We felt an internal pressure as far as making a record because we try to make a different one every time. At the end of the ”Boxer” touring cycle, we saved enough money from the shows to build our own recording studio at Aaron’s house. It’s just a garage and it’s small but it’s really effective for us. It also made the recording process for ”High Violet” different. When we were recording ”Boxer,” we did it in another studio which we also did part of ”High Violet” in. But with our little studio, we had more freedom to explore the songs a little more. You can see that in the recording process as well as in the songwriting.
How did you guys get involved with the Red+Hot compilation “Dark Was The Night”? What was that process like being amongst Bon Iver, Yeasayer, David Byrne, etc.? How did you pick the songs for the compilation?
That was actually a long process as well and it took us a couple of years to finish it. Aaron and Bryce were the ones in charge in curating that project. We knew a lot of fellow Brooklyn-based bands who were touring and recording or people we were friends with or friends of friends. We wanted everyone to contribute a song, which is neither a cast-off song nor a B-Side. We needed something that was specifically for the record, maybe a near-and-dear song or a really good cover. In over two years, we convinced a lot of people to help us with Red+Hot and “Dark was the Night” was sort of a companion piece for the ’90s “No Alternative.”
So you’ve been traveling for some time now to support “High Violet.” I could imagine that touring so extensively can become monotonous, so what would be the highlights from your last few months?
We were just in Europe for a month and we went to Croatia. We had this gig that was pretty crazy in Zagreb. We knew going in that Croatians were rock and roll but this one was pretty wild. There were 3,000 people and it was like a Bon Jovi concert where everybody knew the words to our songs. Our concerts tend to be more subdued and not every single person would sing out loud. So that’s a highlight with regards to shows.
Are there any other plans outside touring for High Violet in the near future? Maybe take a vacation right away or start thinking about the next album?
We’re probably touring for the better part of next year and by the end of it, we’ll be finished. We’ll probably go on a short vacation and then we’ll have to start work on new stuff soon. It’s hard for us to write songs while we’re on the road but we’re always thinking about sketch ideas and doing small recordings. Hopefully, it won’t be too long until we finish a new record.
* * *
To know more about The National visit their website at http://www.americanmary.com/ and you can also follow them on Twitter: @The_National. For tickets to their show in Singapore, please visit http://www.sistic.com.sg.
* * *
Thanks to Tom Wironen of Post Hoc Management for making this interview possible.
* * *
Grace Velasco blogs at http://www.divasoria.ph.
